Time to sell my other kindey?

[Lomax1]

While I'm waiting for the OmioCNC X4-800L I ordered last week (right in the middle of the Chinese New Year... of course) I've been busying myself with getting everything ready for its arrival. I've freed up a solid worktop space, routed power and air, set up a dedicated computer for Mach3, and I've ordered a selection of cutters and 1/4" shank drill bits, as well as some test material (acrylic, aluminium and blank PCBs). I have also spent a lot of time reading, here and elsewhere on the net, trying to get my head around the work process of going from CAD models to finished parts. Only slowly has it dawned on me that perhaps the single most expensive component is missing: the CAM software. For some reason I thought this would be the least of my concerns, and that the big job would be designing the parts and running the machine, but I'm beginning to see that these are the easy bits and that the step in between - actually turning them into G-Code - is where the heavy lifting is needed. I nearly had a fit when I looked at the prices of some of the more professional CAM packages, some of which cost almost ten times more than the machine itself.

TL;DR: What sub £500 CAM software that runs on Linux is suitable for machining mechanical parts and PCBs?

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[Lomax1]

And the answer seems to be: FreeCAD. Which, as its name implies, is free. Rejoice.

[hanermo]

Run virtual machine and a windoze sw like fusion 360.
Afaik, quite a lot, good cam in linux is nih.

[asniex]

While I'm waiting for the OmioCNC X4-800L I ordered last week (right in the middle of the Chinese New Year... of course) I've been busying myself with getting everything ready for its arrival. I've freed up a solid worktop space, routed power and air, set up a dedicated computer for Mach3, and I've ordered a selection of cutters and 1/4" shank drill bits, as well as some test material (acrylic, aluminium and blank PCBs). I have also spent a lot of time reading, here and elsewhere on the net, trying to get my head around the work process of going from CAD models to finished parts. Only slowly has it dawned on me that perhaps the single most expensive component is missing: the CAM software. For some reason I thought this would be the least of my concerns, and that the big job would be designing the parts and running the machine, but I'm beginning to see that these are the easy bits and that the step in between - actually turning them into G-Code - is where the heavy lifting is needed. I nearly had a fit when I looked at the prices of some of the more professional CAM packages, some of which cost almost ten times more than the machine itself.

TL;DR: What sub £500 CAM software that runs on Linux is suitable for machining mechanical parts and PCBs?

Hi mate.. I use http://flatcam.org/ for PCB milling a lot. its easy and produces really good result. so far I have gone down to TQFP and SOIC using the same on a 3D printer CNC-ish setup with a 12V motor and a engraving bit. Totally crappy setup but really good results. Sadly,I don't have any pics to share with you. Just trust me on that
As for CAM and modelling Fusion Chucking 360 (I am a big fan) yes its quirky and crashes from time to time but it has come a long way and has really good tools in it. I would really recommend it. I use it for 3D printing design and finished designing a CNC that I am gonna fabricate soon
If you use the ones I suggested you would get to keep your other kidney. As you must have already sold one for the CNC :P

[dharmic]

flatcam's nice for PCBs.

For anything else? I tried - really tried - with FreeCAD when I was modelling for a 3D printer (and CAM software for those is plentiful).

In the end I gave up and moved onto something that didn't crash every twenty minutes, didn't make insane assumptions and blind alleyways of feature trees and a whole bunch of other frustration. Much as I applaud the efforts of team FreeCAD, I suspect this is one of those applications that, to be really useful, needs a team of developers working undistracted and focussed which means money to pay them to dedicate themselves which means the backing of a decent sized company and usually a commercial product.

Much as I find myself distrustful and cagey when it comes to Autodesk's ability to yank the "free" Fusion licensing, at the moment it comes in as the natural choice for a hobbyist/small business owner who wants some decent functionality in a legally licensed product.

Inventor, SolidWorks, HSMWorks, Creo and a bunch of others can all be found on pirate sites if you want to see why they charge silly bucks for their wares, too. I've had the chance to use Creo for a while on work's licence and really like it but yeah, 5 axis CAM on top of the basic modelling package and we're looking at $20k per seat. Which, as you say, is about a kidney's worth (or two).

You could always have kids and part them out for spares...

[asniex]

flatcam's nice for PCBs.

For anything else? I tried - really tried - with FreeCAD when I was modelling for a 3D printer (and CAM software for those is plentiful).

In the end I gave up and moved onto something that didn't crash every twenty minutes, didn't make insane assumptions and blind alleyways of feature trees and a whole bunch of other frustration. Much as I applaud the efforts of team FreeCAD, I suspect this is one of those applications that, to be really useful, needs a team of developers working undistracted and focussed which means money to pay them to dedicate themselves which means the backing of a decent sized company and usually a commercial product.

Much as I find myself distrustful and cagey when it comes to Autodesk's ability to yank the "free" Fusion licensing, at the moment it comes in as the natural choice for a hobbyist/small business owner who wants some decent functionality in a legally licensed product.

Inventor, SolidWorks, HSMWorks, Creo and a bunch of others can all be found on pirate sites if you want to see why they charge silly bucks for their wares, too. I've had the chance to use Creo for a while on work's licence and really like it but yeah, 5 axis CAM on top of the basic modelling package and we're looking at $20k per seat. Which, as you say, is about a kidney's worth (or two).

You could always have kids and part them out for spares...

Had a good laugh regarding the kids part
Eagle had a really great plugin for PCB milling but it got messed up in the future revisions and its paid or something now. Flatcam offers a really good solutions and its really great for beginners. just enter cut depth tool dia and number of clearing passes and you are done.
Autodesk when it comes to licensing stuff they are total utter crap. But I love F360 cuz its offers a great set of tools and coming from 3Ds max(borrowed ofc) I love their UI. And the CAM and FEA is a great bonus.
Autodesk has taken over eagle now and they started messing up what was good. Good thing I switched to kicad recently. FreeCAD and Kicad are both the same really bad UI and user experience. But I could manage with kicad but I am never going back to freeCAD ever. That UI is just meh...

[Lomax1]

Just a quick note: I really think you should give FreeCAD a second chance, it's come a long way! Use the "daily" PPA. A lot of work is being done on the CAM side and while I haven't been able to try the output IRL yet (since I'm still waiting, patiently, for my CNC router to arrive) some quick testing has yielded very promising results - also for PCB toolpaths.

[dharmic]

Ah, I saw they were spinning up some CAM and downloaded to have a look but couldn't see anything - so I guess it's on the daily rather than any versioned releases yet.

[vmax549]

IF you are planning on using the laptop with Mach3 and use teh LPT version you may have to sell your liver as well for a new PC or at least a new Controller board.

(;-) TP

[Lomax1]

Ah, I saw they were spinning up some CAM and downloaded to have a look but couldn't see anything - so I guess it's on the daily rather than any versioned releases yet.

Yeah, I had used FreeCAD before, a couple years ago, but settled on LibreCAD as a better (read: easier to use) 2D CAD alternative, which was my need at the time. I tend to do a lot of modelling in Blender, which although not intended for CAD use is actually quite capable (with the right plug-ins), and super fast to work in. There is a CAM effort for Blender as well, but it seems more geared towards 3D printing and relief carving. Then I stumbled upon the recent activity on the CAM side of FreeCAD and decided to give it another chance - check out the "Path" workbench; looks pretty good to me!

[Lomax1]

IF you are planning on using the laptop with Mach3 and use teh LPT version you may have to sell your liver as well for a new PC or at least a new Controller board.

No worries there: firstly, the controller that comes with the X4-800L has a USB interface, secondly, the laptop I'm using (Thinkpad X60s) has a docking station which provides a parallel port.

[Lomax1]

Hi mate.. I use FlatCAM: PCB Prototyping CAD/CAM for PCB milling a lot. its easy and produces really good result.

Thanks asniex, that looks pretty good! I will add it to my toolbox And yes, after dithering for a number of years, finally deciding to order the X4-800L did require an organ donation, of sorts; I'm selling my camera to help pay for it. You could say I'm going from camera to CAM

[vmax549]

Normally laptops do not work well with teh LPT version of Mach3(Not recomended). Does your controller have a mach3 plugin available ?

Just a thought, (;-) TP

[RCaffin]

I don't use any CAM at all.
I do 2D drawings for dimensions in AutoSketch - only 2D but very fast and very intuitive. The rest is done in my head.
I taught myself g-code, which was VERY easy, and I write my own programs.
(Disclosure of some significance: I have been programming for the last 50 years, so ...)

Now, very true, if I wanted to carve a fancy wooden face I would have to go to something like Vectrix or whatever - but I don't. Instead I program small-scale production systems., and I optimise the tooling for this.

[snowyskiesau]

I have Win8/Fusion360 running on VMware under Ubuntu, no problems at all. Just be sure to assign a lot of memory to the VM and have a good graphics card.
The same VM also runs CamBam which, while not free, is reasonably priced - no body parts required.

[Lomax1]

Now, very true, if I wanted to carve a fancy wooden face I would have to go to something like Vectrix or whatever - but I don't. Instead I program small-scale production systems., and I optimise the tooling for this.

Or a PCB...

[Lomax1]

I have Win8/Fusion360 running on VMware under Ubuntu, no problems at all. Just be sure to assign a lot of memory to the VM and have a good graphics card. The same VM also runs CamBam which, while not free, is reasonably priced - no body parts required.

CamBam now runs on Linux as well - even on ARM architecture (e.g. Raspberry Pi): CamBam reference library - CamBam on Linux



Edit: Scratch that, old news.

[zeeflyboy]

I am totally sold on Fusion 360... it's brilliant imo.

The CAD side is great, fairly intuitive and easy to use... The rendering side is also pretty good and you can even send it to the cloud for rendering to save your electric bills . I haven't really used the other functions like modelling, simulation or animation much. They are constantly rolling out significant functionality and bug updates and are responsive to requests. Import is very powerful, piece of cake to bring in entire solidworks assemblies etc.

CAM is fantastic, complex adaptive machining strategies and helical plunges etc all just a click away. Be sure to set up your own library of tools to make life easier - as hobbyists we tend to only have a relatively small selection of tools and I find it much easier to just enter my specific ones than using their library.

Above all there are an abundance of tutorials on youtube - when I come across something I don't know how to do it doesn't take long to find a video explaining how to do it.

Only downside is that as dharmic mentions you are at the mercy of Autodesk's generosity with the free licensing. To be honest I think it's too much of a big win for them to get rid of any time soon... they get great exposure, they get a much larger user base for bug finding and feature requests to end up with more capable and stable software, and if a hobbyist or startup begins to make money they aren't likely going to want to change to using different CAD/CAM software so they also generate future customers.

Worth running a virtual machine to at least try out if you ask me.